The German professional climber Alexander Megos succeeds in the first repetition of the 9b + route King Capella in Siurana, one of the most difficult routes in the world. He only vaguely commented on the level of difficulty.
At the beginning of the month, Alexander Megos drove with his girlfriend Ievgenia Kazbekova to Spain, more precisely to the climbing area siurana. The main goal of his trip was to walk the route King Cappella, set up by David Brasco and freely accessible for the first time by the Scot William Bosi Beginning of the year.
The red point ascent came faster than planned
Alex Megos took a look at the King Capella route in March, right after William Bosi cleared the route.
I noticed at the time that the route was pretty good for me, which is why Ievgeniia and I decided to go to Spain for a few weeks to climb difficult routes.
Alexander Megos.
After just nine days, however, the planning phase was history and the free inspection was a reality for Alex. The finger-heavy and explosive route required Alex Megos a lot, he made several bad cuts, but scored the line relatively quickly.
9b +, 9b / + or 9b?
While Alex, like most other climbers, usually specifies the level of difficulty when climbing a route, the German keeps a low profile in this case. Alex suggests that he had an easier solution than William Bosi for one job.
I used very wide pliers, which felt easier than what Will Bosi did. He couldn't make the pull with the pliers like this.
Alexander Megos.
He is curious what future repeaters will say. Alex Megos' statements suggest that he does not classify the route as 9b + or at least not as a difficult 9b +.
The situation is reminiscent of the story surrounding the route Bibliographywho Alex Megos was the first to climb freely and rated with 9c. Successful a year later Stefano Ghisolfi, with another beta, the repetition and he devalued the tour to 9b +. Even Sean bailey, who made the second repetition a little later, rated the bibliography as 9b +. Alexander Megos didn't seem to have found the optimal beta on his first ascent and so William Bosi could join King Cappella now meet the same fate.
That might interest you
- William Bosi: First ascent of King Capella (9b +)
- Exclusive: Alexander Megos to devalue Stefano Ghisolfi
- Stefano Ghisolfi downgrades bibliography to 9b +
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Credits: Cover picture Esteban Lahoz